Desperately Seeking Sevens

Desperately Seeking Sevens

Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet

The Nook Tablet seemed ahead of the race when it debuted late last year. But it has since fallen behind. The 1024 x 600 display just can't match the HD graphics that have become standard in this category, and the 1-GHz dual-core CPU, while peppy, is way behind the Tegra 3. And Barnes & Noble's version of Android limits you to purchasing apps, books, games, and other media only from the bookseller. B&N recently dropped the 8-GB price from $199, but $21 isn't enough savings to make up the ground lost to the Nexus 7.

Toshiba Excite 7.7

The Excite has a lot going for it, but the price holds it back. Yes, it's beautifully designed—just 0.3 inch thick with a light-gray band of plastic affixing the Gorilla Glass display to a sleek aluminum chassis. The 7.7-inch display is the largest in our roundup, yet the feathery-light device remains easy to hold for long reading sessions. There's plenty under the hood, too, with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and 1 GB of RAM. But the 1280 x 800 display, while adequate, can't match the Nexus for color or clarity. There's just not enough here to justify a price that's twice as high as the competition.

WIRED Best-looking unit in the roundup. Textured dots on chassis for extra grip.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0

Given the decidedly non-HD 1024 x 600 display and a fine but unspectacular 1-GHz dual-core CPU, this starts to look, on paper, like just another Nook. But Samsung has avoided some of Barnes & Noble's major missteps. For one, the Galaxy Tab runs the newer Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS. And it isn't hobbled beyond recognition here. Yes, it's skinned in Samsung's TouchWiz user interface, and, no, it's not nearly as tailored to the tablet as the newer Jelly Bean running on the Nexus 7. But it's still open Android, meaning you can get content from far more places.

Nexus 7

This Asus-made showcase for Google sets the standard for 7-inch slates. While the Nexus 7 isn't a full-on iPad-killer, it far outclasses any other small tablet and most 10-inch tablets, too. Thanks in part to a quad-core Tegra 3 CPU and an almost Retina-worthy display, it delivers the best Android tablet experience to date. Honestly, even iPad users who rely on their devices primarily for content consumption might be better off with this. Google's Play storefront doesn't offer as many TV shows or movies as iTunes, but the open nature of Android means you can pull content from all over the web.

Bigger isn't always better. For many people, these midsize machines are the best options out there for consuming media on the go.

The Basics

Didn't Steve Jobs say these would never be viable?

Yes. He was wrong. When Jobs said that back in 2010, 7-inch tablets had low-res screens and underpowered internals that made them more like clunky phones than ultraportable tablets, but they've come a long way since then. The best among them boast HD displays and the same quad-core CPUs found in many top-end 10-inch tablets. They're as fast and vibrant as full-size tablets but weigh about half as much and can fit in a jacket pocket.

So what do they do best?

Reading and email. A full-size tablet will always be better for gaming, web browsing, and watching videos (though none of those things are a struggle on a 7-incher). And nothing beats your phone for portable connectivity. But reading for hours at a stretch is much nicer with these than with something the size and weight of an iPad, and, relative to smartphones, the larger screens and keyboards make these much nicer for emailing on the go. (Yes, you'll have fewer typos.)

How about apps?

That's the rub with Android tablets. They don't get nearly as many tablet-specific apps as the iPad does. (Google won't disclose the figure, but it's far short of the 225,000 iPad-specific titles.) So on Android tablets, you often end up having to use stretched-out phone apps, which look pretty awful on a 10-inch screen. On a 7-incher, however, those apps have a much cleaner appearance.

Buying Advice

The rumors of a smaller iPad are just too strong to ignore. (Actually, Apple may have announced one by the time you read this.) So if you live your mobile life in iOS, hold off. But if you're an Android user or just like the idea of a fast and simple mobile hub for your books, magazines, music, and email, nothing will serve you better than one of these.